So I Went to Disney World During a Pandemic

Something else you'd know if you're subscribed to my YouTube channel: I went to Disney World last month. Things were certainly different just like everything else in this pandemic, so I thought I'd tell you about all the things I experienced while I was there and what to expect if you want to go to Disney World during a pandemic. Also, since my parents took so many pictures, I thought I'd make this a photo story. All photos are by Saralyn "Pics or It Didn't Happen" Tett unless otherwise noted.

First and foremost, masks. Masks were required in every public space in the park. The only instance where you could take them off was if you were eating or drinking while stationary or in designated areas. If not, you'd get thrown out of the park. They also made sure no one forgot by making pre-recorded announcements about it every 15 minutes, it seemed. We only saw one or two people without masks but weren't there when anyone got kicked out. I guess people didn't want to get kicked out of Disney World.

Yes, that is a Persona 5 mask. Thank you for noticing.

Here's me and Dad eating lunch at a designated eating spot in the UK pavilion in Epcot.

Here's an interesting choice: on certain rides, they put Plexiglas dividers on certain rides so that more people could get on without them breathing all over each other. Here they are on our boat in Living With the Land. Luckily, we were in the front row, so our view of the plants was unobstructed by this wubbly thing in front of us. On other rides, they simply put one or more rows between parties (like on It's a Small World) or one party to a ride vehicle (like on Splash Mountain).

All chilling in our own seats.

Since they would attract large groups of people, Disney canceled parades and instead held little impromptu events where a few characters would travel through certain sections of the park. Here's a trolley of Disney princesses going through the UK pavilion in Epcot. We also came across a "parade" of Pixar characters in Disney MGM Studios.

Sulley's the only one who didn't notice us. Shame.

One more thing: it was so empty. It must have been a combination of the pandemic and the fact that we weren't traveling at a peak time. It wasn't completely deserted like this all the time, but there were definitely fewer people. Lines that typically had long lines only took us 20 minutes max to get on. The only exception was Flight of Passage, which had a line reaching practically into Africa, but that still only took 45 minutes. It was just ridiculously long in distance because of the social distancing markers.

Markers like these. This particular picture was taken by my dad and features his feet. They were placed six feet apart on every waiting area and beyond. I guess they were counting on lines sprawling all over the place such as on Flight of Passage. They even had a cast member serve as a traffic cop so that people not waiting in line could pass through!

Muppet Vision 3D doesn't have a line but instead has a pre-show area. They handled social distancing using dot-shaped markers instead of lines. Here's some more pictures of empty spaces for your amazement:

Here's another common sight in Pandemic Disney World: hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere. That way, we could keep our hands clean as we traveled through the park. They could be found at the entrances and exits of just about any attraction, restaurant, or gift shop. This particular dispenser is at the exit of Mad Tea Party. Photo by my dad.

Last but not least, how did they deal with transportation? We pretty much went everywhere in our car so we wouldn't have to go on public transportation, but we had to take the monorail from the transportation and ticket center to the Magic Kingdom. They divided the benches into little cubbies meant for one or two people. People wouldn't be seated with someone from another party, so if there was an odd number (like with our party), one person would be by themself. Here's me and dad in our cubby while Mom takes the picture from her own.

I hope you enjoyed my little photo story and possibly come out of this a little bit more informed just in case you're looking to visit Disney World in a pandemic or are just curious as to what Disney's doing to stop the spread of the virus. Our trip was just as fun as ever, but one thing's for sure: I hope we never have to do it again.